Assemblyman Yongbin Lee: "Restrictions on Large Corporations' Participation in the SW Industry Must Be Strictly Enforced"

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] Rep. Lee Yong-bin (The Democratic Party of Korea, Gwangju Gwangsan-gap) stated that strict restrictions on large corporations' participation must be maintained to foster small and medium-sized software (SW) businesses.

The current Software Industry Promotion Act mandates measures to expand the participation of small and medium-sized businesses in projects commissioned by government agencies to promote the development of the SW industry through nurturing small and medium-sized software businesses. It also restricts large corporations' participation through notifications by the Minister of Science and ICT.

Rep. Lee pointed out, "According to the relevant law, the nurturing of small and medium-sized SW businesses should be realized through restrictions on large corporations' participation, but the legislative intent is being undermined by the departmental selfishness of commissioning agencies," adding, "Exceptions to restrictions on large corporations' participation are increasingly expanding due to demands from large corporations."

He continued, "Although the Ministry of Science and ICT's 'Large Corporation Participation Restriction Deliberation Committee' has made non-approval decisions three times, commissioning agencies are delaying projects and applying for exceptions to participation restrictions to promote large corporations' involvement," emphasizing, "The legislative intent of the relevant law and the committee's decisions should be respected by rejecting such applications and ordering the commissioning agencies to announce bids with restrictions on large corporation participation."

He also stated, "If the committee makes non-approval decisions three or more times on the same project, it should immediately recommend the commissioning agency to issue a public SW project," and asserted, "The Ministry of Science and ICT must ensure that projects rejected by the committee are selected as exclusion targets so that large corporations do not participate."

Furthermore, he mentioned the insufficient measures by the Korea Communications Commission (KCC) regarding 'random chat apps,' which was also pointed out during the confirmation hearing of nominee Han Sang-hyuk, chairman of the KCC.

Rep. Lee said, "If the KCC fails to properly manage 'random chat apps' and second or third Nth Room incidents occur, the KCC's responsibility cannot be overlooked," adding, "Measures must be promptly established to prevent any further similar incidents."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.